


The Morality of Murder

by conspiracy_of_ravens (nonamenuisance)



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Arguing, Cannibalism, Dubious Ethics, Dubious Morality, Established Relationship, Ethical Dilemmas, Ethics, F/M, Genocide, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Murder, Philosophy, because yes; ethical philosophy is always a party, debate, feel free to join in on the nerd party, nobody knows why they're together, odd narration style, they disagree on everything, this is essentially me just using my faves to nerd out about ethical philosophy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 22:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8303914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonamenuisance/pseuds/conspiracy_of_ravens
Summary: Nobody understands how or why Akane and Makishima are still together.  They disagree on everything.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired entirely by a series of debates I got into in my ethics course. Shipping Akane and Makishima had never crossed my mind, but it somehow stemmed from that as well.
> 
> As for the narration style... it was an experiment with minimalism. I'd appreciate hearing anyone's thoughts on it.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Psycho-Pass or any of the characters. Even though this is inspired by some arguments I had, the views and opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect my own.

It had become a well known fact among the students at Sybil University that anyone who had an interest in philosophy—or simply liked to watch a good debate—should attend Professor Jouji Saiga’s lectures on ethics. As thought-provoking as the lectures were, they were not what drew in the crowds of students. Instead, the main attraction was the arguments that would always, _always_ break out between the two brightest students in the class. No matter the issue, no matter the dilemma, it was certain that Makishima and Akane would disagree. They would verbally spar unrelentingly, neither one wavering in the slightest from their beliefs. Professor Saiga often had to interrupt them when they lost track of time and caused the class to run on for far long. The entertainment factor only was heightened by the knowledge that the two were in a relationship. Some joked that the couple was the eighth wonder of the world, considering how they were polar opposites. 

As much as students loved to sneak into the auditorium to listen, the students who were actually registered for the class often chose to sneak out instead. They had grown tired of being forced to sit through the endless circling debates, and instead had concluded that yes, issues such as genocide and euthanasia were ultimately unavoidable, but they were also currently less important than happy hour at the local bar. 

Today was one such day where beer was preferred over philosophy. Everyone had assembled in the largest auditorium for the lecture, and Professor Saiga watched as three more students, trying their hardest to be unnoticed, slipped out the door in the back of the auditorium. He was fully aware of what chassed them away; just before they beat their hasty departure, he had uttered those fateful words. _‘Imagine this…’_ They seemed so innocent, yet they always caused a great disturbance amongst the students. His two favorite students, as problematic as they were, had leaned forward in anticipation laced with other emotions; Akane with fascination and intrigue, and Makishima with mischief. 

“You are in a fast-moving trolley car, and there are no brakes,” Professor Saiga began, “but the steering wheel works perfectly. Ahead of you, there are five workers repairing the tracks. If the trolley continues on the current track, the five workers will die. Yet before you reach the workers, you have the opportunity to turn the wheel and shift over to a new track. The only problem is, there is one worker on said new track and if you shift over, you will kill him. Which is the morally acceptable solution? Do you sacrifice one to save five?”

He took a quick poll of the class, and was not surprised to find that Akane and Makishima did not agree. Akane, along with the majority, voted to kill the one and save the five. Makishima on the other hand, chose to do nothing and allow the five to die and spare the one.

As the microphone began to be passed around for students to voice their thoughts, arguments, and responses on the dilema, it eventually found its way into Akane’s dainty hands. 

“I believe it would be wrong to kill the one man by turning the steering wheel. I also believe it is in the best interests of society to preserve as much human life as possible. Weighing those two beliefs against each other, I say that the morally correct thing to do would be to turn the wheel and kill the single worker instead of the five.”

Makishima slowly raised an arm, and Akane passed the microphone in his direction, eager to hear his counter-argument.

“Clearly neither option is preferable,” he began. “Regardless, I disagree with what Akane stated. The trolley is moving. Whether I was in it or not, the trolley would still be moving and would ultimately hit and kill the five workers. I have no power to stop the trolley. If the trolley hits the five workers and kills them, it would be an accident, whereas if I turn the wheel to divert the track, I would hit and kill one man in an act of murder.”

Akane’s hand immediately shot into the air, calling for a second microphone to be passed. “But how is that murder?” She asked, as soon as she received one.

“It’s quite simple really. I would be acting in a way that caused another to be killed.” Makishima replied with that insufferable smirk on his pale lips.

“So by your logic, you not acting in a way that you knew would save their lives, you would instead be murdering the five through omission.” 

“Not necessarily. As I said before, regardless of whether I was in the trolley, the trolley would hit the workers. Therefore, if they get hit and die, it would be an accident. I would have no moral responsibility for their deaths.”

“But you would! You had the opportunity to save their lives and chose to do nothing, hence you are morally responsible,” Akane argued.

Professor Saiga cleared his throat as a group of five students slipped into the auditorium. It appeared that they were giggling. “Thank you, to all the students who spoke,” he nodded at them individually before continuing. “Now that we’ve heard from both sides, let us change the situation slightly. Now, instead of being on the trolley, you are standing on a bridge above the track. The trolley still has no breaks and is hurtling towards the five workers. There is no option to turn the trolley onto a different track. Standing next to you, is a very large man who, like you, is leaning over the railing to watch the runaway trolley. If you give the man a shove, he will topple over the railing, land on the tracks and be hit by the trolley, in turn preventing it from hitting the five workers. What is moral?”

Makishima, still holding one of the microphones from previously, stood immediately, flicking a long strand of his hair behind his ear and giving a misleadingly innocent smile. “Acording to Akane’s reasoning, it would be moral to shove the large man over and save the lives of the five.”

“No it would not!” She countered loudly. “The morality depends on the actions involved! You are on the bridge, not on the trolley. You are not directly involved in the situation; therefore, you do not have any responsibility to try to save the endangered lives. While you should still attempt to do so out of pure humanity, the lives of the five workers do not rest on your shoulders. Instead, they rest on the shoulders of the person who is inside the trolley.”

“Ok,” Professor Saiga sighed loudly. “It seems that Akane’s patience with Makishima was wearing thin, so let us move on.” The students chuckled as Akane blushed heavily. “We will now discuss a famous nineteenth century law case. There is a shipwrecked crew of four. The captain, first mate, and lieutenant are all married, and two have political influence. The fourth, a cabin boy, is seventeen years of age, and an orphan with no dependents or extended family. They have two cans of turnips, but no fresh water. After three days of hunger, they open and eat one can. They wait three more days, and catch a turtle. That and the other can of turnips last them another nine days. On the seventeenth day, the cabin boy goes against the orders of the other crewmembers and drinks his fill of saltwater. By the nineteenth day, he is curled in the bottom of the lifeboat in pain, and appears to be dying. The captain decides to kill the cabin boy so that the other sailors and himself can survive. They are rescued five days later, and upon reaching their home country, they are arrested and tried. The question is, are they guilty of murder?”

The class was more evenly divided on this issue as opposed to the two previous examples, yet the majority leaned towards saying yes, the act was immoral. 

For once, Makishima and Akane agreed. As the microphones were passed around for students to comment, neither of them asked for a turn to speak. Professor Saiga was a little bit stunned, to say the least. This was something that had never happened before.

After several students spoke, one man with wild black hair—Kogami, if he remembered correctly—threw in a new variable: consent. 

“So?” he asked. “Does consent change the morality?”

The class voted again, and the room was split once more, only with Makishima and Akane on different sides.

Akane’s reasoning was that murder was murder, regardless of whether the victim gave consent. 

“But if he gave his consent, how can it be wrong?” Makishima countered.

“Firstly, because he is in a lot of pain. He is suffering, starving, and ill. He is not in the correct mindset to give consent. Not only that, but he did not suggest the idea. He might only be consenting because he believes he will be killed either way, and hopes that with consent, his murder will be less painful,” she replied.

“So if instead he suggested that he be killed and eaten, would you find it objectionable then?”

“Yes, because cannibalism is a crime.”

“But what makes it a crime? When does necessity outweigh a crime? Murder in self-defense is permissible, so why is cannibalism to stave off starvation not?”

“Some acts are wrong regardless of the consequences. Cannibalism is one of them.”

“And murder is not?” 

“No. If someone is going to kill me and I kill them first, then it is not a crime.”

“But Akane, this is going against what you argued for earlier. Didn’t you say it is better for one to die to save five? In this situation, it is one dying to save three. Since he’s saving less than five, you disagree?”

“That’s not it at all. It is the fact that he was eaten. If he chose to sacrifice himself in a way that saved the lives of the other three yet did not require cannibalism, there would be nothing wrong with it.”

Makishima gave another smirk, this one looking more sadistic than the previous. “And what about genocide? You have made it clear that you believe it is acceptable to kill a few to save many. That is the argument used by Hitler, Mussolini, and Pavelic. Do you condone genocide, Miss Akane?”

Her face flushed darkly. “Of course not.”

“But shouldn’t morality be congruent? If an act is acceptable in a small scale, then how can it be wrong on a larger one?”

“It’s quite simple really,” she rolled her eyes. “Everything is proportional. Take fire for example. When it’s on a small scale, such as in your fireplace, it is a good thing. But when that same fire is burning down your house with you trapped inside, I think everyone would agree that it is bad. The morality depends entirely on the situation and scale of the action.”

“So when does the scale become too large? How can one tell when an act that was moral becomes no longer acceptable?” He countered.

“That rests entirely on common sense,” Akane said emphatically. 

“Unfortunately, common sense is not as common as we would hope for it to be. What do you say to that?”

“All that shows is that we need to be careful to elect good and just officials to power, officials who have common sense and a strong moral compass, so that they can judge right and wrong for those who either can not tell the difference, or who can yet choose to ignore it.”

Makishima hummed, yet before he could speak again, Professor Saiga called the class back to order. “As usual, we’ve heard some very interesting viewpoints from both Akane and Makishima. Thank you both for sharing. Now moving on…”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“So would you really let the five people die?” Akane asked as she leaned against the bar, drink in hand. A currently popular song played in the background, sounding slightly tinny due to the old speakers. Akane’s large eyes sparkled in the orange-tinted light, and her lips slowly wrapped around the wet tip of the bottle of beer she’d been nursing for the past half-hour. 

Makishima chuckled smoothly. “Honestly, Akane. Surely you know me better than that. I’d be the one who cut the trolley brakes in the first place, just to see which choice the driver would make. And besides, the question was ‘what is moral?’ and not ‘what would you do?’” He leaned in close. “I think you didn’t distinguish between the two.”

Her eyes darted down. “That may be true. I do always try to do the moral thing. Is that wrong?”

“That depends entirely on who you ask.”

“To you, is that wrong?” Akane clarified, making eye contact again.

“In most people, it can quickly become boring, that is certain. But from you, I would say it is actually one of your more endearing qualities. It makes you interesting, whereas it would make others dull.” One of his slender fingers reached out and brushed along her jawline. 

“And why am I special?” 

He hummed as he thought for a moment. “Because of how passionate you are on the subject of morality. Most act in a moral way out of a sense of duty or drudgery; they either want to be a respectable citizen because it will keep them out of prison and make their lives more enjoyable, or they attempt to get as close to immorality as they can while still preserving their belief that they are a decent human being, allowing them to sleep at night. But you,” he tucked a wisp of her short hair behind her ear, eyes searching hers, “you pursue the moral life because you love it. That fascinates me.”

“You know what they say;” she replied easily. “opposites attract.”

Makishima hummed once again before he turned to the bartender and asked for a second glass of whiskey. “Now; about consenting to cannibalism…”

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love some feedback. Also, if you wanna give your own opinions on the subjects discussed above, that'd be awesome too because opinions are fun. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
